Fairy Blog Mother
The subject of effective post writing has been covered many times, because everybody provides their own theories. But it was brought to my attention when a couple I am teaching how to blog showed me their first examples, proving it was necessary to set an appropriate style.
First you need to think of the purpose of your post, and the kind of audience who will read it. What is the subject, is it relevant or appropriate, and will it change your readers’ lives? It’s important to remember who you are writing for, and that it needs to be sufficiently entertaining. A proper focal point will help towards providing a better finished product, as well as stimulate future presentations.
The next thing is the headline, an important element designed to attract the reader’s attention. Give careful consideration to its relevance and description of the post’s subject, its length (preferably under 60 characters), and avoid cryptic, ambiguous or over-clever examples. Headlines are presented in many guises and situations, so give some thought where it is likely to be seen, especially as a link in social media or RSS feed, and how your readers would react to it.
Once past that hurdle, your readers need to be sufficiently hooked by the first sentences. Blogging is a quick, newsy, busy medium, and posts are subject to skim-reading to see if they are relevant to the reader’s needs. Therefore it’s imperative to state the most important points first, because they may never get read if you leave them to the end, and the opportunity may be lost.
The next thing to consider is the length of your post, particularly bearing in mind the fast-moving nature of blogging. Presentation can be enhanced by subheadings or bullet points, as these can break up a lot of content to maintain the reader’s focus. Paragraphs should be short, containing only 3-4 sentences, which also shouldn’t be over-long, as this facilitates easier reading.
If you have a lot to say, you don’t have to write it all at once. Time-starved readers are more attracted to shorter posts, so consider presenting your material as a serial within several posts over a number of days. Spreading it over time will encourage your audience to return to read the next installment, boosting your ratings considerably.
And finally provide a conclusion or summary to round off your post; it helps the reader to know it’s the end, and this is also where you add in a call to action, even if it’s only an invitation to leave a comment, or otherwise your objectives will not meet the achievement they deserve.
